84% of people across ten countries support cuts to plastic production, as revealed in a new survey published by Break Free From Plastic ahead of the fifth round of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting for a Global Plastics Treaty, commencing in Busan, Korea next week.
The key findings from the survey include:
- 84% of respondents agree that to stop plastic pollution, we must cut plastic production.
- 82% of respondents agree that the Global Plastics Treaty should include a reduction in plastic production to stop biodiversity loss.
- 79% of respondents agree that the Global Plastics Treaty should include a reduction in plastic production to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
- 84% of respondents support governments in signing the Global Plastics Treaty.
- Most respondents overestimate the amount of plastic that is recycled by more than three times. Just 9% of plastic is ever recycled (OECD), yet the average estimate ranged from 34% to 49% across the ten countries surveyed.
- While a majority of respondents know that plastic is primarily made from oil, just 52% of Americans, and 58% of Canadians and British respondents know that plastic is primarily made from oil, compared with 63% of Kenyan respondents and 75% of French respondents.
- Spanish, French, British and Korean respondents were more likely to identify corporations or government as responsible for plastic pollution
Justine Maillot, Break Free From Plastic Europe Coordinator, said:
“This is further evidence that there is overwhelming support for cutting plastic production across a broad range of countries. Delegates attending INC-5 in Busan must listen to their populations and ensure that cuts to plastic production are included in the Global Plastics Treaty.”
“The vast majority of respondents clearly understand the connection between the plastics crisis and other environmental crises, including biodiversity loss and climate change. People are demanding that governments take action to address these interconnected issues.”
“The fact that most people overestimate the amount of plastic that is recycled is not surprising. The oil, gas and petrochemical industries have spent millions of dollars on campaigns to convince the general public that recycling is effective. The reality is that just 9% of plastic globally is ever recycled. We need drastic production cuts to effectively end the plastic crisis.”
Note: The survey was conducted by Dynata, online in September 2024, with approximately 1000 respondents from each of the following countries: Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Spain, Switzerland, UK, USA. The theoretical margin of error of the survey is approximately +/-3.1%.
***
About BFFP — #BreakFreeFromPlastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 2,700 organizations and 11,000 individual supporters from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP member organizations and individuals share the values of environmental protection and social justice and work together through a holistic approach to bring about systemic change. This means tackling plastic pollution across the whole plastics value chain – from extraction to disposal – focusing on prevention rather than cure and providing effective solutions. www.breakfreefromplastic.org.
Global Press Contacts:
- Caro Gonzalez | Caro@breakfreefromplastic.org | +1 (646) 991-1013
- news@breakfreefromplastic.org
Regional Press Contacts:
- United States and Canada: Brett Nadrich | Brett@breakfreefromplastic.org | +1 (929) 269-4480
- Africa: Carissa Marnce | Carissa@no-burn.org
- South East Asia: Eah Antonio | Eah@breakfreefromplastic.org | +63 (927) 827 7960
- South Asia: Devayani Khare | devayani@breakfreefromplastic.org | +91 (704) 214 6169
- Europe: Bethany Spendlove Keeley | Bethany@breakfreefromplastic.org | +49 (176) 595 87 941
